From a courageous ocean rescue to using a robot to deliver health care: Awards of Excellence

The young crew of a Fisheries and Oceans rescue boat who braved the North Pacific in weather that tested their small craft to rescue a survivor of a capsized fishing boat, then continued searching tirelessly through the night for the other fishermen.

A Health Canada team that used a robot dubbed Rosie to allow people in a fly-in community to have real-time remote virtual visits with doctors doing everything from directing emergency resuscitation to psychiatry.

The Elections Canada group tasked with turning around the dismally low number of young Canadians turning out to vote — and shaping their own futures — in the run-up to last year’s election.

Their unsung stories were highlighted Thursday as the Public Service Award of Excellence was handed out to 238 recipients by Gov. Gen. David Johnston and Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick.

Among those honoured with her team was Debra Keays-White, a nurse who heads Health Canada’s Atlantic region programs for First Nations and Inuit health. She spotted a robot developed by Dr. Ivar Mendez to do remote neurosurgery and reimagined it as a way to deliver basic health care to people in Nain, N.L., where there are no doctors and people can wait days or weeks to fly out. It’s a Canadian first.

With the help of Mendez, local government and maker InTouch Health, Rosie brings a doctor who controls the robot with a joystick on a laptop from anywhere in the world to a patient’s bedside. It’s been a hit with patients, their nurses and the entire community because it has increased access while reducing waiting and travel time and saving money. The community has now purchased a second robot itself and Rosie is now at work in Saskatchewan, too.

“It saves lives and it will absolutely change the face of how health care is delivered in northern communities in Canada,” Keays-White said. “It’s nice to have that recognition. I think it’s difficult at times to think outside the box and to get that kind of support. Luckily Health Canada is embracing innovation and gave us an opportunity to take advantage of Dr. Mendez and InTouch’s generosity.”

The awards also gave a behind-the-scenes view of newsmaking stories.

There are the staff from Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada who organized pre-inquiry consultations to get input from the family members of missing and murdered indigenous women.

They “created a respectful, safe and caring environment that enabled people to tell their harrowing and frequently horrific stories, often for the first time.”

Or there are the Operation Syrian Refugees team of 15 public servants from as many departments who worked to welcome 25,000 refugees quickly and safely.

They rallied hundreds of public servants from across government to create interim screening and medical and reception centres abroad and charter flights to Canada. With “considerable diplomacy,” they worked with all levels of government, both at home and abroad, plus service organizations and service group in Canada.

In the youth category, the crew of the Nootka Inshore Rescue Boat 507 was honoured for their bravery on Sept. 5, 2015, when they rescued a fisherman from the Caledonian, which capsized off Tofino, B.C., then searched all night for his three mates, who did not survive.

“The crew’s persistence in the face of extraordinary challenges and personal risk is remarkable,” according to the selection committee.

In the category of excellence in citizen-focused service, a team from Elections Canada won for Inspire Democracy, a program helping 133 youth organizations across Canada to encourage young people in the run-up to last year’s election to vote.

In 2011, fewer than one in four of the youngest adults cast a vote. That rose to about six in 10 in 2015 but, “we think there’s a lot more work to be done,” said senior director of policy and public affairs Susan Torosian, who nominated the team.

Voting by youth had been declining for decades while research shows that those who don’t vote early might not start later in life.

“The mandate is pretty compelling,” Torosian said. “There’s a lot of passion on the team that worked on this project. Being recognized for that is very rewarding.”

The Public Service Award of Excellence 2016 recipients

Outstanding Career

Jeff Anderson

Parks Canada

During a 34-year career, Anderson “created opportunities for telling the story of Canada,” with accomplishments including a cooperative management relationship with the Inuit in Torngat Mountains National Park and leading the Franklin Initiative, telling the story of this part of Canadian history and Parks Canada’s role in the discovery of the HMS Erebus.

Bernard J. Butler

Veterans Affairs Canada

In 30 years at Veterans Affairs, Butler’s achievements include developing a new strategic direction in caring for veterans and their families and enhancing their benefits.”

Ann D. E. Fraser

Canadian Food Inspection Agency

As a public servant for more than 30 years, Fraser has made “significant” contributions in research and policy on animal health, plant protection and food safety and taken a leadership role in the values and ethics community.

Judy Halladay

Health Canada

Halladay began her career in the 1980s as a front-line nutritionist helping First Nations, recently co-led the development of the Alberta First Nations Food Security Strategy.

Cynthia White Thornley

Canadian Heritage

White Thornley has led initiatives to support Canada’s arts and culture for more than 25 years, developing the Tomorrow Starts Today cultural investment strategy and modernizing the grants system.

Management Excellence

Sandra Colleen Fry

Public Health Agency of Canada

Fry is being honoured for her leadership in creating one of the world’s strongest pathogen regulatory frameworks to protect Canadians by developing the regulations in the Human Pathogens and Toxins Act and spearheaded the launch of the Biosecurity Portal.

Normand Masse

Public Services and Procurement Canada

Masse, who heads a group of nearly 300 employees who acquire a vast range of complex goods and services, has represented Canada around the world and worked on expediting the arrival of Syrian refugees.

Geoff Simpson

National Defence

Simpson and his team achieved the modernization of the Halifax class frigates, a complex, multi-billion-dollar project delivered on time and on budget and “signalling a return to world-class naval capability.”

Employee Innovation

North Warning System Office Team

The team, which oversees the chain of radar sites across the northern coastline aimed at detecting potential threats, boosted Canada’s aerospace readiness while saving $11 million a year and creating jobs for indigenous people.

Captain Rachel Bailey, National Defence

LieutenantColonel John Baycura, National Defence

Amanda Chen, National Defence

Melanie Couture, National Defence

Captain Donald Ebsary, National Defence

Darren Haley, National Defence

Richard R. Hayton, National Defence

Terry Herman, National Defence>

Patricia Joosten, National Defence

Glen MacEachern, National Defence

Nancy Morin, Public Services and Procurement Canada

Barry Stokes, National Defence

Keith William Thistle, National Defence

Colonel Alex Tupper, National Defence

Kelvin Turriff, National Defence

Perpetual Vetting Initiative

Transport Canada

The team implemented a “revolutionary risk-mitigation tool” to continually vet the security clearance of workers in airports and marine terminals against the Canadian Police Information Centre database replacing 40,000 manual checks a year with real-time information.

Remote Presence Robot Technology: Nain, Labrador

Health Canada

The team came up to an innovative solutions to the problem of providing timely basic health care to fly-in First Nation and Inuit communities. Combining corporate and government funding, they developed a demonstration project using a robot as an interface between doctors and distant patients, which has “revolutionized” health care and nursing education.

Leila Gillis, Health Canada

Agatha Hopkins, Health Canada

Dr. Michael Jong, Memorial University

Debra Keays-White,

Health Canada

Michelle Kinney, Nunatsiavut Government

Dr. Ivar Mendez, University of Saskatchewan

Andrea Perry, Health Canada

Elissa Tilley, Health Canada

STC/AAFC Field Crops Remote Sensing Team

The team developed an “innovative” way of measuring crop production by using satellite, meteorological and historical survey data and over several years created new estimates of national and provincial crop yields. It’s the same data collected in the annual crop survey — without burdening farm operators.

James Ashton, Agriculture and AgriFood Canada

Frédéric Bédard, Statistics Canada

Wesley Benjamin, Statistics Canada

James Brisbane, Statistics Canada

Catherine Champagne, Ph.D., Agriculture and AgriFood Canada

Aston Chipanshi, Ph.D., Agriculture and AgriFood Canada

Bahram Daneshfar, Ph.D., Agriculture and AgriFood Canada

Andrew M. Davidson, Ph.D., Agriculture and AgriFood Canada

Valéry Dongmo Jiongo, Statistics Canada

Harvey Hill, Ph.D., Agriculture and AgriFood Canada

Chris Mohl, Statistics Canada

Nathaniel Kenneth Newlands, Ph.D., Agriculture and AgriFood Canada

Gordon Reichert, Statistics Canada

Richard Warren, Agriculture and AgriFood Canada

Yinsuo Zhang, Ph.D., Agriculture and AgriFood Canada

Living the Blueprint 2020 Vision

Departmental Client Relations Management

Canada School of Public Service

The team put Blueprint 2020 — a “major cultural shift in the public service’s approach to learning” that affects 250,000 employees — into action through government-wide collaboration on GCconnex.

The team created an interdepartmental marketing and communications effort, using tools such as social media and videos, aimed at helping aboriginal students learn about and enrol in a federal student work experience program. As a result, the number of aboriginal students from Quebec in the program, for example, doubled in a year.

Kim Blanchet, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada

Catherine Bolduc, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada

Audrey De Montigny, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada

Christopher McDonell, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada

Christian McIntyre, Public Service Commission of Canada

Sarah Moretti, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada

JoséeAnn Paradis, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada

Manon Tremblay, Public Service Commission of Canada

Carole Verreault, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada

Regional Federal Council Managers

When the number of councils was cut in half, the managers collaborated to establish business objectives on a reduced budget with technology and virtual networks for 150,000 public service employees.

The Regional Federal Council managers are commended for the outstanding success of their transition to a new governance model.

Regulatory Web Renewal Core Team

The interdisciplinary team from 16 different departments collaborated to create web designs that simplify complex regulatory information for users on Canada.ca, making information easier to find, understand and scan.

Nathalie Bernier, Health Canada

Penny Day, Health Canada

Jessica Dugas, Health Canada

Gabriel Frost, Health Canada

Steven Leconte, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

Scott McNaughton, Health Canada

Louis Michaud, Health Canada

Mary E. Moreland, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

Mark Schindel, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Trajan Schulzke, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

Manmeet Singh, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Laura Stewart, Health Canada

Marc Viau, Health Canada

Excellence in Citizen-Focused Service Delivery

Calvin Pepabano

Service Canada

The client service officer created a phone line that enables citizens of nine remote Cree communities in Northern Quebec to quickly access programs in English or Cree.

Collections Web/Video Presence Team

Canada Revenue Agency

The team saw an information gap for taxpayers who could or wouldn’t pay what they owed so they created a dedicated web page and video explaining payment options for those who can’t pay and the consequences of refusing to pay.

Inspire Democracy: Knowledge for Civic Action

Elections Canada

The team led an initiative aimed at engaging 133 organizations serving youth with digital and in-person workshops to inspire them to encourage young people to vote in the 2015 election.

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Pre-inquiry Team

The team designed and implemented an “unparalleled” nationwide consultation seeking input from the family members of missing and murdered indigenous women.

Salena Brickey, Status of Women Canada

Margaret Buist, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada

Lisa Hitch, Department of Justice Canada

Corrado Puddu, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada

Allyson Rowe, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada

Employment Equity and Diversity

Positive Space

Two inter-departmental teams created “trail-blazing” programs to create safer and more tolerant work environments for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and questioning employees.

Karma Burkhar, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

Marcella Daye, Canadian Human Rights Commission

Jennifer Dietz, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

Veronique Gakwandi, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

Ronnie Gill, Correctional Service Canada

Fiona Keith, Canadian Human Rights Commission

Christine Kerr, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

Ümit Kiziltan, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

Roger Lamoureux, Shared Services Canada

Andrea Markowski, Correctional Service Canada

Jennifer Murakami, Canadian Human Rights Commission

Rachel Parker, Correctional Service Canada

Martine Senior, Canada Border Services Agency

Sundeep Singh Cheema, Correctional Service Canada

Gillian Wan, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

Official Languages

French Support Working Group

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

The group is recognized for the “innovative” way it fostered the use of both official languages at work, checking translation of technical texts and creating a wiki page with a terminological database.

Excellence in Policy

Yohanna Loucheur

Global Affairs Canada

Loucheur’s analysis informed Canada’s decision to sign on to the International Aid Transparency Initiative and she has led efforts to publish more information about development assistance programs, contributing to Canada now ranking in the top 5 of bilateral donors in transparency.

Let’s Talk TV Policy Review: A conversation with Canadians

Canadian Radiotelevision

and Telecommunications Commission

The team reached 13,000 people and industry stakeholders with social media, online town halls and innovative “flash” conferences to get public input then used it to develop policy aimed at rapid technological change.

North American Energy Ministers Clean Energy and Climate Change Agreement

Over eight months, the winning team developed the trilateral agreement between Canada, the United States and Mexico, laying the foundation for continent wide action on clean energy.

Christine Angelo, Natural Resources Canada

Abha Bhargava, Ph.D., National Energy Board

Colleen Brady, Natural Resources Canada

Line Dumais, Natural Resources Canada

Kelly Kutchaw Polak,

Natural Resources Canada

Viktoryia Leipi, Natural Resources Canada

Rachel McCormick, Canadian Embassy in Washington, United States of America

Melanie McKay, Natural Resources Canada

Nathan Platte, Natural Resources Canada

Simon Préfontaine, Natural Resources Canada

Michael Scrim, Statistics Canada

Magalie Veillette Ménard, Natural Resources Canada

Cameron Walter, Natural Resources Canada

Jeff Wilson, Natural Resources Canada

James Zeni, Natural Resources Canada

Restructuring of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited

The team tackled “unprecedented operational and policy challenges” in a “complex” restructuring of the organization that wrapped up in September 2015.

MarieClaudeAuger Bouchard, Natural Resources Canada

Marissa Bender, Natural Resources Canada

Seth Cain, Natural Resources Canada

Mary Ellen Cavett, Department of Justice Canada

Josée Chalifoux, Natural Resources Canada

Cécile Cléroux, Natural Resources Canada

Karen Huynh, Natural Resources Canada

Sharonne Katz, Natural Resources Canada

Paul Kearns, Natural Resources Canada

JeanFrédéric

Lafaille, Natural Resources Canada

David Moroz, Natural Resources Canada

Maude Émilie Pagé, Natural Resources Canada

Shannon Quinn, Natural Resources Canada

Graeme Williamson, Natural Resources Canada

Youth

David Marson

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Marson, an aquatic science biologist, leads the early detection and rapid response field program defending the Great Lakes from the invasive Asian carp, scouring the water in every weather and inspiring a crew of technicians and students in the “often gruelling” work.

Nootka Inshore Rescue Boat 507 Crew

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

The young crew of the Canadian Coast Guard Nootka Inshore Rescue Boat 507 responded to a search call on Sept. 5, 2015, that sent them 50 km into the North Pacific in weather conditions beyond those intended for their small craft. They rescued a survivor from the capsized fishing vessel Caledonian then joined the search for the other crew that lasted into the next day.

Juan Burak Yepez, Adele Horbulyk, and Phil Mercier-Provencher

Exemplary Contribution Under Extraordinary Circumstances

Litigation Team, First Nations Child Welfare Case

Canadian Human Rights Commission

The “stellar” team represented the public interest in a nine-year case on First Nations child welfare services leading to a historic decision in January “that will advance social justice in Canada and forever change the relationship between the federal government and Indigenous peoples.”

Triggs, whose career has spanned more than 41 years, has encouraged service innovation been a leader in labour market and social development programs “that respond to the needs of Canadians.”

Scientific Contribution

Shen-En Qian, Ph.D.

Canadian Space Agency

An “eminent” scientist in spacecraft optical payloads and satellite signal processing, Qian has five inventions that have led to 26 patents to his name. His technology has helped overcome the challenges in developing Canadian optical space missions and reduce their cost.

Genomics R&D Initiative Shared Priority Projects

The Food and Water Safety Team and the Quarantine and Invasive Species Team developed new technologies for detecting food and water-borne pathogens, “reducing detecting time from days to hours” and created faster and better ways to identify and trace the origins of invasive and quarantine species.

Cathryn L. Abbott, Ph.D., Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Sabah Bidawid, Ph.D., Health Canada

Guillaume Bilodeau, Ph.D., Canadian Food Inspection Agency

Patrice Bouchard, Ph.D., Agriculture and AgriFood Canada

Nathalie Corneau, Health Canada

Robert Foottit, Ph.D., Agriculture and AgriFood Canada

Morag Graham, Ph.D., Public Health Agency of Canada

Siegfried Janz, Ph.D., National Research Council Canada

André Lévesque, Ph.D., Agriculture and AgriFood Canada

James Macklin, Ph.D., Agriculture and AgriFood Canada

Franco Pagotto, Ph.D., Health Canada

Michael Rott, Ph.D., Canadian Food Inspection Agency

Edward Topp, Ph.D., Agriculture and AgriFood Canada

Gary Van Domselaar, Ph.D., Public Health Agency of Canada

Teodor Veres, Ph.D., National Research Council Canada

Large-Scale Special Event or Project

Operation Syrian Refugees

The group spearheaded efforts to bring 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada under tight timelines, setting up interim screening and medical centres overseas, reception centres and charter flights to Canada, working with all levels of government at home and abroad, and service groups and community organizations in Canada, requiring “considerable diplomacy.”

Mieke Bos, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Élaine Chatigny, Public Health Agency of Canada

Devin Conley, National Defence

C. Mark Cosenzo, Canadian Security Intelligence Service

Alain Desruisseaux, Privy Council Office

Dawn Edlund, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

Eric Gordon, Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Mark Gwozdecky, Global Affairs Canada

Brenda HenslerHobbs,

Transport Canada

Shawn Hoag, Canada Border Services Agency

S. Craig Oldham, Public Safety Canada

Denis Racine, Canadian Heritage

Surinderpal Singh Komal, Shared Services Canada

Mary Ann Triggs, Service Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada

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